This actor is full of tricks.

The elevator stopped on the fifteenth floor because it could no longer go up. If everyone wanted to go to the seventeenth floor, they would have to use the fire escape.

In the pitch-black stairwell, Lin Jue walked at the back of the group, holding up his phone and speaking in a low voice: "Dear viewers, if you go up any further, you'll reach the site of the strange incident. It's said that more than a dozen people jumped from that floor, and each of them had a strange smile on their face."

Lin Jue really seemed like a ghost-hunting blogger, recounting what had happened on the seventeenth floor as he walked up, seemingly trying to create a terrifying atmosphere, but actually subtly implying that the Jiuyuan Inspection Division was incompetent.

"Thank you to my brother Viper who doesn't like to show off for the ten rockets. I wish you good luck and wealth, and that you are loved by others day and night."

"Thanks to my boss Xiao Lin for the Porsche! Wishing you happiness and few worries, and may you stay young forever!"

"Thanks for the little star from Baiyao Fitness Edition, but you're asking for a refund for minors even though it's only 10 yuan? Seriously, you're really stingy! And whose identity did you use for real-name registration?"

"Thanks to AA. The old man at the Yangtao Street shop who came to me for a loan... wait, sir, where did you get your phone?"

The popularity of this live stream has exceeded Lin Jue's expectations. He originally just planned to do a live stream to annoy the investigators from Jiuyuan, but some "strange" viewers flooded in.

Team Leader Wang, who was walking at the front, had a strange expression. He felt that he had heard several of the names of the audience members somewhere before.

The group arrived outside the brick wall on the 16th floor. Captain Wang examined the yellow talisman on the wall and whispered, "It's the talisman of that old Taoist priest from the Mozhu team. With this thing here, the strange thing can't possibly come out. I think it's that employee."

Before he could finish speaking, another phone was shoved into his nose, and a large face was brought close: "Brother 0, what are you muttering about? You don't actually think this talisman will work, do you? You know, strange things still happen after this talisman is put on. Just now, didn't a woman go crazy because of it?"

"Enough!" Captain Wang gritted his teeth in anger. He glanced at the number of viewers on his phone screen, which had already broken five digits in a short time. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he couldn't just let it go.

Some things may not be a big deal if done within Jiuyuan City, but if they spread, they will truly be a disgrace to the entire country.

He moved the phone away from his nose, trying to make his tone sound more amicable: "I didn't say anything like that. I'm going in right away, and I'll definitely handle this properly."

"Brother 0 is such a kind person. Once this matter is resolved satisfactorily, I will have headquarters issue you a certificate of merit." Lin Jue patted Captain Wang on the shoulder.

Captain Wang rolled his eyes: "Who do you think you are, that headquarters would give me an award certificate?"

After saying that, he ignored Lin Jue and tore the talisman off. The moment the yellow talisman was torn off, the brick wall collapsed with a crash, and an indescribable stench hit the air, exactly the same as the one Lin Jue had smelled in the Wisteria Community.

"Ugh! Damn it, did something die in there? Why does it smell so bad?" Many members of the Tie Ning squad gagged. Although Lin Jue didn't find the smell disgusting, he pretended to gag a few times as well.

"Look at you guys, so pathetic." Captain Wang sneered. The live stream was still on, and you've already made such a mess over a little bit of stench. You've really lost face.

He grabbed a teammate and pushed him to the front: "You go first."

"Captain, I..." The team member wanted to say something, but noticing Captain Wang's slightly threatening gaze, he had no choice but to swallow his words and brace himself as he walked up the stairs.

The 16th and 15th floors are like two completely different places. On the 15th floor, you can at least see some light, but as soon as you step into the 16th floor, it suddenly gets dark all around, and even the lights of the fire evacuation indicator lights disappear. It's as if you've entered a black hole that swallows all light in an instant.

Moreover, the temperature suddenly dropped at that moment, and everyone shivered and hurriedly turned on their phone flashlights.

With the light in, the tension among the group eased somewhat. The layout of the sixteenth floor was similar to that of the fifteenth floor; the doors to each room were tightly closed and could only be opened with an emergency key.

"There's nothing strange about this layer. It's probably because the old Taoist priest sealed it up as well, just to be on the safe side."

After Captain Wang and his group searched the area, they found nothing unusual except for the dark and eerie environment.

Lin Jue pretended to interact with the viewers in the live stream, but in reality, he was using his True Eye of Law to survey his surroundings. As Captain Wang had said, there was nothing strange about this floor; his True Eye of Law didn't detect any black aura. The root of everything was on the 17th floor.

The group of people groped their way up the stairs to the 17th floor. As they passed the corner of the stairwell, Lin Jue suddenly called out, "Wait a minute."

"What's wrong with you now!" Captain Wang turned around, looking impatient.

“Look at these steps.” Lin Jue squatted down and pointed his phone camera at the steps. In the live stream, the steps were covered with a thick layer of dust because no one had been there for a long time, but there were obvious and messy footprints in the dust, which went all the way up to the 17th floor.

"This place is sealed off by a magical artifact, so there's no way anyone could get in. Whose footprints are these?"

"And these footprints only go upwards, not downwards, which means those guys are still hiding on the 17th floor."

"And look, aren't these footprints strange?"

Lin Jue pointed to a step on the stairs, where all the footprints appeared simultaneously from both feet.

“And here too.” He pointed to the next step, where the same pairs of left and right footprints appeared as on the first step, and the same pattern continued on every step above.

"What's so strange about that?" Captain Wang asked, puzzled.

"How did you get up the stairs?" Lin Jue asked in return.

“Of course it is like that.” Team Leader Wang began to demonstrate, but after taking a couple of steps, he realized something was wrong.

When a normal person walks up stairs, they take one step at a time. After the left foot lands on the first step, the right foot will step onto the second step, and then the left foot will step onto the third step. There is no situation where both feet are on the same step at the same time.

"Do you understand?" Lin Jue stood up: "Actually, we can roughly deduce the appearance of the monster from these footprints. All the left and right footprints come from the same monster, and there are four pairs of footprints in total. What does something with four pairs of feet look like?"

One of the team members quickly realized: "Spider!?"

The moment these words were spoken, the live chat exploded.

Holy crap, can anyone tell me if this is real or fake?

It's true, I am that fire door.

[I'm from Jiuyuan. The place the streamer is currently at is indeed the Golden Rose Hotel. I've also heard about what happened on the 17th floor of this hotel. Is the Inspection Department going to do something about personnel matters?]

[The anchor just said that everyone on this entire floor jumped to their deaths, and the floor is now sealed off. These footprints must be suspicious!]

[Mommy, a monster with eight human legs! Just thinking about it is terrifying! Hold me tight!]

Not only the viewers in the live chat, but Captain Wang and his group also looked at Lin Jue with some surprise. If he hadn't reminded them, they wouldn't have noticed the footprints at all.

Moreover, the other party even managed to roughly deduce the strange appearance from these footprints. This reasoning ability was simply terrifying. If the other party hadn't actually been an ordinary person, Captain Wang would have suspected that this guy was in cahoots with the ghost on the 17th floor.

(End of this chapter)